tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774317.post4376135279929993489..comments2024-03-20T16:30:09.690-05:00Comments on The Fifth Column: The Problem With Caring for the PoorUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774317.post-35037127518236839842015-09-26T09:57:00.954-05:002015-09-26T09:57:00.954-05:00Mr Van Dyke,
I think you've put your finger o...Mr Van Dyke,<br /><br />I think you've put your finger on it with the "Uber" thought. A healthy dose of subsidiarity to technology would surely introduce opportunity for work and social engagement to a class that, in the institutional world of big business capitalism, would be otherwise relegated to front line fast food service and call center script reading.<br /><br />A curious observation by Father Malachi Martin I read or heard years ago has stuck with me. His eschatology and Vatican insider stories were always controversial and wild, but I was greatly interested in his observations on the Society of Jesus. He commented on how the Jesuits used to be a loyal Catholic order at the vanguard of advancements in science and human thought.<br /><br />He lamented the modern Society and was disappointed they were nowhere to be seen with the rise of the internet. I believe the comment was something like, "The Jesuits of Ignatius' time would have engaged the internet and Christianized it. But where are we Catholics now? Barely present, and hiding in our chat rooms and web sites."<br /><br />I feel like technology and these innovations could and should be marshaled and organized to give people a third way.pelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03136602454526310163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774317.post-52578404953606660572015-09-26T02:38:37.466-05:002015-09-26T02:38:37.466-05:00Great stuff, Steve.
Paint my house. Fix my car. T...Great stuff, Steve.<br /><br />Paint my house. Fix my car. Teach my kid how to do math. weed my garden. We stopped talking to each other, providing services to each other, being useful to each other.<br /><br />I was a musician, and not a bad one. I could sing for my supper, at least until I got to Los Angeles. ;-)<br /><br />A job got inextricable from government, I suppose with the institution of the income tax, certainly now with Obamacare if I work for you more than 29 hours a week.<br /><br />You're on so the right track, and yes, robots are replacing manual labor. Still, the Earned Income Tax Credit is a work of genius. It just has to be set up that the more you work, the more you make--instead of the perverse system now that penalizes working more.<br /><br />I guess Uber is where you want to go with this. For those who aren't, frankly, worth a day's pay at any real job, the economy has to devolve to where they too can be useful enough to some other human being to earn <i>something</i>.<br /><br />Is "earn" the operative dynamic here? I think that's where you're going with this, the dignity of work.<br /><br />As always, Mr. Kellmeyer, you wail. Hit me up sometime.<br /><br />Tom Van Dykehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07121072404143877596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774317.post-85284551079228364662015-09-24T09:19:07.210-05:002015-09-24T09:19:07.210-05:00Tony, charitable giving solves the material needs ...Tony, charitable giving solves the material needs of the poor but it doesn't do much else. People don't just need work to provide for their needs but also because work dignifies them, gives them a clear and valuable role in social order, etc. This is a real need people have: to be "useful"; and it isn't just the result of social/economic pressures, because people can satisfy that need through economically unproductive means.<br /><br />Mr. Kellmeyer, I wonder if you are familiar with two books by Peter Drucker.... The End of Economic Man, then the Future of Industrial Man. Drucker's anthropology is flawed in a lot of respects, especially from a Catholic viewpoint, but he has some interest and relevant insights nonetheless, and explores them especially with respect to the pressing issue of his day -- the rise of totalitarianism.Sean W.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10085184456489549231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5774317.post-84518242142504977112015-09-23T14:49:37.187-05:002015-09-23T14:49:37.187-05:00Is this a trick question. Voluntary charity is ho...Is this a trick question. Voluntary charity is how we do it. It maintains property rights helps the poor meet their needs and is good for the giver.<br />Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00508595582393301733noreply@blogger.com